Trains of Thought
by Capt.Planet
Summary: Random drabbles/vignettes focused on various characters in Naruto. May cover many ratings/genres/pairings.
1. Vanity

Ino's vice is vanity.

Chouji is a glutton, Shikamaru has sloth, and the list goes on. But Ino is vain.

Every day, she gets up at least two hours early to primp and fix and perfect, and when she leaves her house, everyone is dazzled.

Any makeup she wears is always just so, her hair never falls from its stylish up do, and of _course_ her clothing accentuates her flawless figure.

But, Ino does not really care what she looks like. Really, she is not a morning person, and she doesn't like to take so much time getting fixed up. She hates shopping because trying on clothes is such a hassle, and makeup only sweats off if one trains properly.

The only real reason she clings to this foolishness is that she likes to pretend that the only thing she has to worry about is the fact that her hair is frizzy today, or her favorite skirt is dirty.

She wishes that the worst thing that could happen to her were her flat iron burning out.

When every day you run the risk of losing everyone you have ever loved, is it not easier to focus on such a trivial thing as appearance?

So every day, Ino gets up early and makes herself beautiful and hopes that no one can see past her soft lashes into her striking icy eyes and find her fear.


	2. Ensnared

Once a person reaches a certain age, they forget what it is like to be young.

By this point, one forgets the true wisdom and depth of the teenage mind and becomes wrapped up in the assumption that years determine capability.

Kakashi is petrified to know that he has _almost _gotten there.

Sakura is standing before him looking for all the world like an enraged Tsunade (with obvious alterations). Her defiant glare holds his astounded gaze steadily and she positively _dares_ him to say the words that she knows were on his lips.

"I know you care for me, Kakashi, and _yes_, I am sixteen and you are thirty. Who the hell cares? This is _not_ a phase and I will _not_ just get over you. I _can_ tell when I am in love, and you cannot possibly say that you believe I can't!" she raged, poking a finger in his chest (a finger he hopes will remain devoid of chakra for the duration of this confrontation).

"I was going to make no such accusations," he replies weakly, keeping a wary watch on her chakra flow, "and how are you so sure that my feelings for you are not totally platonic?"

While he knows that he does, in fact, care for her very deeply, he also knows that he is not the best person for her to settle on. He is not fond of housework, he hates cooking, and he obviously lacks the ability to do anything on time. He has not had a functional relationship in a _decade_. Also, there is the slim possibility that some people might think that any relationship between them would be lewd and immoral. Kakashi does not plan to mention this, though, because he does not care much for others and their irrelevant opinions.

At this pathetic answer, Sakura's semi-anger dissipated, leaving only her confidence (which aggravates him because he knows it is warranted).

"You know, Kakashi, it's pretty much inevitable," her smooth words begin as she steps forward and angles her mouth upwards so he can better fantasize about her lips, "If you don't give in now, I'll just catch you during a weak moment. You know, like when you're reading your porn."

At her last words, he rolls his eyes hopelessly.

She is right.

He stares at her a moment, then acquiesces by huffing an exasperated sigh and reaching out to pull her body against him. When he leans down to kiss her, he tries to maintain the annoyed air, but she bites his lip and he has to give in and laugh.

"Okay, but just keep in mind my many, many faults," he says in what he hopes resembles his too-cool-to-care tone he reserves for moments when he has been bested.

"Oh, no worries, if I'd wanted perfection, I would have gone for someone like Neji."

Somehow, this kind of declaration does not shock him as one would think it would. Instead, he just grabs her hand and wanders in the general direction of his apartment (that he figures will soon be hers, too, if she deems it worthy).

"You would never dream of dating Neji…"

Sakura manages, for a second, to hope that he may be about to break character and make some romantic declaration of everlasting love and devotion.

"His hair is prettier than yours."

On the other hand, he could have been about to ensure his spot on the couch for the first week of their relationship.


	3. Mend

When they were young, they promised to be best friends forever. Inseparable, like sisters. They would grow up, get married, be each other's maid of honor and godmother to the other's children, they would live next to each other in identical houses (because to a child, nothing shows more love than matching)...

And for a while, it looked like they would make it (well, maybe not the identical house part; Konohagakure was mostly a hodgepodge of buildings).

All it took to tear them apart was a silly little boy. A silly little boy with no room in his heart for either of them.

After _he _came along, nothing was the same. They were put on different teams, they did not speak to each other, and even when they did, it was only to taunt and mock.

Now, Ino is just a guest at Sakura's wedding, because Sakura never had the courage to fix what they had lost. Neither did she. She wishes the silly little boy had never come between them. Ino meets the bride's eyes and sees the tears running from them. She wonders if she's crying because she is happy of if they are thinking the same thing.

Ino cries too as she sees Naruto take Sakura's hand and make her happy again. She is not crying for the beauty of it.

Hinata is the maid of honor. Tenten is a bridesmaid.

Ino is just a spectator.

But she has hope, because Sakura delivered the invitation personally and they had gone on girls' nights since then. The new couple's house is only a street over from hers. She plans to visit more often.

Ino is sure she has plenty of time (at the very least, nine months) to secure the position of godmother.


	4. Open

During every kiss, Sakura keeps her eyes open.

It is not that they have been bad kisses, because most of them were quite breathtaking. It has less to do with the quality of the kisses and more to do with her feeling of unease.

Always, she worries about someone walking in, about doing something wrong, about falling too hard.

After being left so much, it takes time to become accustomed to being wanted. It takes time to be able to show one's heart after it is abandoned once.

Kissing is such an intimate act that conveys true emotion, and she has trouble breaking down her guards.

She always fears that once she has shown herself, she will be left.

So she tries not to fall so far that she cannot leave first.

But when Naruto kisses her the first time, she cannot bear the thought of ever leaving him. She cannot possibly consider doing anything but loving him back and hoping they never have to part. Her hands pull him to her and she tries to melt into him, to fasten herself securely to his body so they never separate. He does nothing without his entire being and she has never been so glad for that.

When he kisses her, she feels the almost-drowsy pull on her eyelids and has to give in. Pressed against this wall, supported by Naruto's hands under her thighs and his chest against her own, she has never felt something so natural and easy as this surrender.

He pulls away murmuring phrases that make her _want_, and her eyelids are so heavy she can barely open them to glance at his wild, bright eyes as he leans his forehead to hers.

With his breath on her lips, she does not know how she went so long without this.

And when Kakashi and Sai walk in (and right back out), she does not even notice.


	5. Quandary

Naruto really had no clue what was going on with Kakashi and Sakura.

It was really starting to get ridiculous. He found that when it came to each other, they both acted like complete children. They would ask, nonchalantly, of course, how he thought the other was doing, what activities they had been involved in lately (and with whom), what they had eaten last…

And it was beginning to wear on his nerves.

In a last-ditch effort to solve things, Naruto asked Sai for assistance. Since they both were quite the experts on relationships with other humans, their partnership got them absolutely nowhere.

Several discussions on the subject had occurred, and none of them had amounted to anything (except a few fights when Sai had gotten bored and started insults…Naruto's favorite jacket had been dry-cleaned multiple times because of the ink stains).

One evening, however, the problem solved itself. Coming back from their watch, Naruto and Sai had just been bickering on the pros and cons of stealing all of Sakura's underwear to force a confrontation when the girl herself sprinted through the trees about a hundred meters away.

Bizarrely, she did not seem to be wearing any sort of top.

A moment later, Kakashi also flew past them.

Laughing. With _no mask on_.

He completely ignored their presence in the trees and gave no explanation for his actions.

Bewildered beyond cognitive function, Naruto nearly fell to his death before Sai grabbed the back of his jacket and hauled him back onto the branch.

"Holy shit! Did you _see_ that?" he screeched, pointing madly in the general direction their teammates had run off to.

"Yes, actually, my eyes are quite adequate. They seemed to be _very _happy about whatever _activities_ they were preparing to engage in," Sai noted monotonously, though he seemed aware that Naruto had caught his implication and was _not_ amused.

Suddenly switching from blank to sly, the hand he still had bunched in Naruto's jacket pulled him roughly to his chest.

"Actually, Dickless, since they're gone," he whispered in the startled boy's ear, "how about _we_…"

"_Fuck_. _No_." Naruto seethed in disgust as he pushed Sai forcefully away from him.

This time, Sai just laughed when Naruto fell out of the tree.


	6. Assist

Her teeth were grinding together so hard, she wondered if she'd have any left after this was over. She refused to let him hear her scream.

The ground tore into back and side; she pressed her palms to the earth and got up without a hint of the pain wracking her body.

"Up already?" His voice was feral, unreal. She could not understand how a human throat could produce such a sound.

Without answering, she adjusted her gloves and threw her body down to slam her fists into the earth. His foot connected to her side before her eyes even registered his movement. She found herself dangling from his grasp, his unnatural yellow eyes directly in front of her face.

"Ah ah, Sakura-chan," he paused, and she realized his tone was almost gentle. Then his eyes and voice hardened again before he repeated, "_No_."

She could hear her breath wheezing into her lungs, feel her consciousness begin to wane just as her anger burst outward most viciously.

The chakra scalpels extended from her fingertips should have severed his entire arm, but with the transformation, they were only enough to weaken his grip so that her kick to his chest propelled them away from one another.

She watched with morbid fascination as the darkened skin knit itself together. Her eyes traveled back to his with horror, and she felt the irrepressible shudder his cursed seal state always inspired run through her.

_Unnatural_.

When she reached his eyes she saw terror and hate and _why are you here?_

"I refused to give in."

"So you're here to bring me back _again_?" his scoff was nearly tangible, "I think not."

But his eyes that were so unnatural and hateful begged her to disregard his words, to please, _please_ _help_.

_I do not want to kill you._

She didn't have time to dissect and analyze his every action, word, expression; she could agonize over her not-so-gone feelings once he was unconscious and restrained and possibly drained of his crazy, homicidal rage.

With a deep breath, she cleared her mind, adjusted her gloves one more time, tapped her foot against the ground and watched it rear up before her. This fight would end soon, and she knew who would come out on top.

(And though she tries to keep Inner Sakura out of that last thought, a smirk escapes anyway.)


End file.
